The district's territory also includes Ayon Island, found at the entrance to the Chaunskaya Bay.

[14] This area is dominated by the Lower Rauchua delta and the alluvial plains of the Kyttyk Peninsula, from which Ayon Island is separated by the Maly Chaunsky Strait.

[14] In addition, the peninsula is scored by a number of rivers, the Eyukuul, Koz'mina, Rakvezan and Emykkyvian among the most significant.

[15] The wetlands at Ust-Chaun are similar in structure to those at the Rauchua / Kyttyk wetland, consisting of a landscape almost entirely filled with small lakes,[15] those nearest Chaunskaya Bay are the smallest and shallowest (less than 70 cm deep)[15] and those on more elevated ground being deeper at 1.5–3 m deep[16] The Ust-Chaun region serves a fishing centre for the inhabitants of Rytkuchi,[17] although this has lost its importance in recent years as stocks of Char have diminished,[17] as a result of overfishing both for sale to the local Sovkhoz and as bait for trapping foxes.

[23] The Rauchua / Kyttyk wetland area is considered to be the easternmost extent of so-called "Kolyma fauna", such as the Terek sandpiper, brown shrike and scarlet rosefinch.

[21] The most common bird species in the Rauchua / Kyttyk wetland are the yellow-billed, black-throated and Pacific divers.

These people either migrated to the Far East, or are the descendants of those who did, enticed by the higher pay, large pensions, and more generous allowances permitted to those prepared to endure the cold and the isolation, or, more likely, were exiled here as a result of one of Stalin's purges, or were exiled here having been released from the Gulag.

[25] Of these people, 841 were Chukchi,[25] with 2 reported as Yupik, 2 Mansi and 1 Even comprising the remaining five indigenous individuals.

[25] The indigenous people of Chaunsky District reside mainly in Rytkuchi, Ayon and Yanranay.

[25] The area of what is now Chaunsky District was first visited by non-indigenous people, when Karl Merk came across the Chaun River, as part of the overland element of the Billings Expedition—the expedition ordered by Catherine the Great and led by Englishman Joseph Billings in an attempt to find a true Northeast Passage.

[12] The Rauchua River was a place inhabited by mammoths in prehistoric times and was also the scene of a bloody battle between Chukchi herders and a combination of Yukaghirs and Evens during the 19th century.

[27] Mining and ancillary services still form the major elements of the economy of Chaunsky District.

[25] Pevek's port is the largest in Chukotka and is generally open for about two and a half months a year from mid-July to September.

[25] The transport infrastructure of the district is more developed compared to the rest of Chukotka; this in part is helped by the presence of Pevek.